Artisan Bread: An easy introduction
Sunday morning, I filled the apartment with the smells of warm homemade bread. I have never made artisan bread before, but after reading this post on korenainthekitchen.com, I knew that was about to change.
Ingredients:
- 3 1/3 cups warm water
- 1/4 teaspoon course sea salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (about 2 full packets)
- 5 1/2 cups unbleached all- purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- parchment paper
- wax paper
- extra all- purpose flour for dusting and handling
In my mixing bowl I added the 3 1/3 cups of warm water and the yeast. After I let that sit for 2-3 minutes, I added 1/4 teaspoon salt and stirred it slightly. To my yeast mixture I slowly incorporated the all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. When the dough mixture was wet and sticky, I moved on to greasing a sheet of waxed paper to place on top of the mixing bowl. On top of that, I placed a clean damp dish towel. I let the dough rise at room temperature for 2 hours until it had doubled in size. It started to puff up to the top of my bowl and was very bubbly.
I took a nice handful of dough (about 3-4 cups) out to make the first loaf, and I covered the remainder and placed it in the refrigerator to rest more and bake tomorrow. Making sure that my hands and work surface were well floured I took the handful of dough and gently tucked the ends under to form a ball. I tried to keep the amount of times I was handling it short so as not to overwork it. I then placed my shaped dough ball onto a floured piece of parchment paper and let it rest for 30 minutes.
While my dough ball was resting I preheated the oven to 450 degrees with my bread stone on the center rack. On the rack below my bread stone I placed a roasting pan. I filled the pan with warm water to about halfway full.
Once 30 minutes had passed I cut three incisions on the top of the dough ball and dusted it with flour. I then placed it onto my bread stone in the oven. I let it bake for 40 minutes.
After the 40 minutes, the bread had developed a beautiful golden crust. There is nothing quite like a warm piece of freshly baked bread, but you do have to wait about 30-40 minutes before slicing in. This was a simple and straightforward bread to make. I can see how with practice the results will get even better, so I will be making this again, for sure.